Extreme Weather Climate Preparedness

7/31/2019 Extreme Weather Climate Preparedness

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extreme weather,

climate & preparedness

in the american mind


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Extreme Weather, Climate & Preparedness

In the American Mind

Interview dates: March 12, 2012 March 30, 2012. Interviews: 1,008 Adults (18+)Margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.NOTE: All results show percentages among all respondents, unless otherwise labeled. Totals mayoccasionally sum to more than 100 percent due to rounding.

This study was conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the GeorgeMason University Center for Climate Change Communication, and was funded by the SurdnaFoundation, the 11th Hour Project, and the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the

Environment.

Principal Investigators:

Anthony Leiserowitz, PhDYale Project on Climate Change CommunicationSchool of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University(203) 432-4865 [email protected]

Edward Maibach, MPH, PhDCenter for Climate Change Communication

Department of Communication, George Mason University(703) 993-1587 [email protected]

Connie Roser-Renouf, PhDCenter for Climate Change CommunicationDepartment of Communication, George Mason University(707) 825-0601 [email protected]

Jay D. Hmielowski, PhDYale Project on Climate Change CommunicationSchool of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University(203) 432-0773 [email protected]

Cite as: Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., & Hmielowski, J. D. (2012)Extreme Weather,Climate & Preparedness in the American Mind. Yale University and George Mason University. NewHaven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.http://environment.yale.edu/climate/files/Extreme-Weather-Climate-Preparedness.pdf


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Yale / George Mason University Extreme Weather, Climate & Preparedness in the American Mind 2

Executive Summary

In 2011, Americans experienced a record-breaking 14 weather and climate disasters that each caused$1 billion or more in damages, in total costing approximately $53 billion, along with incalculable loss

of human life. These disasters included severe drought in Texas and the Great Plains, HurricaneIrene along the eastern seaboard, tornadoes in the Midwest, and massive floods in the MississippiRiver Valley. In the period of January through March 2012, Americans also experienced recordwarm temperatures, with temperatures across the contiguous United States 6.0 degrees F above thelong-term average. In March alone, 15,292 warm temperature records were broken across the UnitedStates.

In March 2012 we conducted a nationally representative survey and found that a large majority ofAmericans say they personally experienced an extreme weather event or natural disaster in the pastyear. A majority of Americans also say the weather in the United States is getting worse and manyreport that extreme weather in their own local area has become more frequent and damaging.

Further, large majorities believe that global warming made a number of recent extreme weatherevents worse. Only about a third of Americans, however, have either a disaster emergency plan or anemergency supply kit in their homes.

Weather this past year

A majority of Americans say that unusual weather events have occurred in the past twelve months inboth their local area (56%) and elsewhere in the U.S. (62%). Overall, 82 percent of Americans reportthat they personally experienced one or more types of extreme weather or natural disaster in the pastyear. These include extreme high winds (60%), extreme rainstorms (49%), extreme heat waves(42%), drought (34%), extreme cold temperatures (29%), extreme snowstorms (26%), tornadoes(21%), floods (19%), hurricanes (16%) or wildfires (15%).

People in the Northeast are more likely to report having personally experienced extreme high winds,rainstorms, cold temperatures, snowstorms, floods and hurricanes in the past year. People in theMidwest are more likely to report having personally experienced extreme high winds, rainstorms,snowstorms, and tornadoes. People in the South are more likely to report having experienced anextreme heat wave or drought, while people in the West are more likely to report having experienceda wildfire in the past year.

Overall, 35 percent of all Americans report that they were personally harmed either a great deal or amoderate amount by one or more of these extreme weather events in the past year. Likewise, 37percent report that someone they know personally was harmed either a great deal or a moderate

amount by an extreme weather event or natural disaster in the past year.

Weather over the past several years

Over the past several years, Americans say the weather in the U.S. has been getting worse ratherthan better by a margin of over 2 to 1 (52% vs. 22%).


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Weather over the past several decades

About half of all Americans say that heat waves (53%), droughts (46%) and very heavy rain storms(43%) have become more common in their local area over the past few decades. People in theNortheast and Midwest are more likely to report that heavy rainstorms have become more frequent

in their local area, while people in the South and West are more likely to report that droughts haveincreased.

Many Americans also say that extreme weather has increased the occurrence of other problems intheir local area, including harm to crops (46%), floods (39%), problems with air quality (38%), forestfires (34%), problems with water quality (31%), and problems with transportation (23%). People inthe Northeast and Midwest are more likely to report that local floods and harm to crops havebecome more frequent, while people in the South and West are more likely to report that forest firesin their local area have become more frequent.

Anticipated weather in the upcoming year

About half of Americans (51%) believe that extreme weather will cause a natural disaster in theirown community in the next year.

Global warming and extreme weather events

A large majority of Americans believe that global warming made several high profile extremeweather events worse, including the unusually warm winter of December 2011 and January 2012(72%), record high summer temperatures in the U.S. in 2011 (70%), the drought in Texas andOklahoma in 2011 (69%), record snowfall in the U.S. in 2010 and 2011 (61%), the Mississippi Riverfloods in the spring of 2011 (63%), and Hurricane Irene (59%).

Natural disaster preparedness

Although a majority (55%) of Americans report that they have thought some (38%) or a great deal(17%) about preparing for a natural disaster, only 36 percent have a disaster emergency plan that allmembers of their family know about and an emergency supply kit in their home (37%).

Weather information sources

A large majority of Americans (71%) say they follow news about the local weather forecast very(31%) or somewhat closely (40%). Television especially local TV (52% daily use) and cable TV(26% daily) remains the medium most Americans use to get weather forecast information.

Commercial and public radio (22%), newspapers (15%), mobile devices (14%), and websites (11%)are less commonly used for daily weather forecasts.

Only 11 percent of Americans report that they have seen a weather forecaster talking about globalwarming in the past 12 months many times (5 or more), while 20 percent say they have seen this afew times (3 or 4 times). Yet 58 percent of Americans would be interested in learning what theirfavorite TV weathercaster has to say about global warming.


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Table of Contents

Observations and Experiences of Weather.5

Global Warming and Extreme Weather Events16

Preparedness18

Use of Local Weather Forecasts....19

Methodology.20


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Observations and Experience of Weather

To begin, we'd like to ask you some questions about the weather. How much do you agreeor disagree with the following statements? 1

I take notice of changes that occur in the weather.

Strongly agree 47Somewhat agree 40Neither agree nor disagree 8Somewhat disagree 2Strongly disagree 3

I plan my daily routine around what the weather may bring.


The weather or changes in the weather really do not matter to me.


In your opinion, over the past several years, has the weather in the U.S been

Much worse 13Somewhat worse 39About the same as normal 27Somewhat better 18Much better 4

1Items are listed in the order they were asked. Items not shown in this report are being released separately.


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Do you recall any unusual weather events that occurred in the past twelvemonths?

Natl Avg Northeast Midwest South WestYes 56 68 60 51 50

No 44 32 40 49 50

Do you recall any unusual weather events that occurred in thepast twelve months?

Natl Avg Northeast Midwest South WestYes 62 70 62 59 60No 38 30 38 41 40


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Have each of the following types of extreme weather events become more or less commonin your local area over the past few decades? Would you say much more common,somewhat more common, somewhat less common, or has it stayed about the same?

Very heavy rainstorms

Natl Avg Northeast Midwest South WestMuch more common 14 15 15 14 13Somewhat more common 29 34 36 24 26Stayed about the same 32 32 25 35 34Somewhat less common 11 3 13 15 8Much less common 7 5 3 6 16Dont know 7 10 8 7 4

Droughts


Heat Waves



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Has extreme weather caused more or fewer of the following problems in your local area overthe past few decades?

Forest fires

Natl Avg Northeast Midwest South WestMany more 11 6 5 14 17Somewhat more 23 17 18 27 25Stayed about the same 38 46 45 31 35Somewhat fewer 7 7 8 7 7Many fewer 2 3 1 3 0Dont know 19 22 22 18 15


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Floods

Natl Avg Northeast Midwest South WestMany more 13 16 13 13 9Somewhat more 26 32 35 20 21

Stayed about the same 35 32 32 34 42Somewhat fewer 8 5 7 12 6Many fewer 4 4 0 6 6Dont know 14 10 13 15 17

Harm to crops



Problems with water quality



Problems with air quality




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Problems with transportation




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In the past year have you personally experienced each of the extreme weather events ornatural disasters listed below?

Natl Avg Northeast Midwest South West

Yes Yes Yes Yes YesExtreme high winds 60 71 70 46 63Extreme rain storm 49 69 57 43 34Extreme heat wave 42 42 35 50 36Drought 34 17 26 48 31Extreme coldtemperatures

29 37 32 22 30

Extreme snow storm 26 45 37 13 19Tornado 21 18 31 25 9Flood 19 40 15 16 11Hurricane 16 36 4 18 8Wildfire 15 7 4 21 23

This table reports the percent of Americans that said they have experienced one or more of the types of extreme weather events or

natural disasters listed above in the past year.

Percent of Americans7 or more types of events 106 85 114 133 12

2 161 type of event 12Total 82


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Respondents who said they had experienced any of the above weather events were then asked how much they had been harmed.

How much were you harmed by these extreme weather event(s) or natural disaster(s)?Please consider all types of harm, including harm to your property (e.g., your home, garden,or car), finances (e.g., lost income or time at work), and physical or mental health (e.g., aninjury, prolonged anxiety).

A great dealA moderate

amountOnly a little Not at all

Number ofrespondents

Flood 16 15 28 41 177Extreme heat wave 15 21 33 31 400Tornado 14 19 22 46 203Drought 12 22 35 31 323Hurricane 11 25 34 30 148Extreme coldtemperatures

10 16 33 41 275

Extreme rain storm 10 20 32 39 461

Extreme high winds 8 21 34 37 571Wildfire 8 23 27 42 141Extreme snow storm 7 18 39 36 244

The following chart depicts the percentage of ALL respondents who said they were harmed a great deal or a moderateamount by extreme weather events or natural disasters.


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The overall percent of Americans who said they were harmed a great deal or a moderate amount by one or moretypes of extreme weather events in the past year.

Percent

Harmed 35Not harmed 75

Do you personally know anyone who experienced one of the extreme weather events ornatural disasters listed below, in the past year?

Natl Avg Northeast Midwest South WestYes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Extreme high winds 45 58 48 37 47Extreme rain storm 39 58 44 33 29Extreme heat wave 36 38 31 39 36Extreme snow storm 32 43 36 27 27

Extreme coldtemperatures

31 39 27 27 35

Drought 29 21 25 40 20Tornado 28 32 31 29 18Flood 25 46 26 21 15Hurricane 22 42 13 22 11Wildfire 16 12 15 19 16


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This table reports the percent of Americans that say they personally know someone that experienced one or more of the types of

extreme weather events or natural disasters listed above in the past year.

Percent of Americans7 or more types of events 166 65 84 83 82 111 type of event 11Total 68

Respondents who said they knew people who had experienced any of these weather events were then asked how much they had

been harmed.

Overall, how much were the people you know harmed by these extreme weather event(s) ornatural disaster(s)? Please consider all types of harm, including harm to their property (e.g.,home, garden, or car), finances (e.g., lost income or time at work), and physical or mentalhealth (e.g., an injury, prolonged anxiety).

A great dealA moderate

amountOnly a little Not at all

Number ofrespondents

Tornado 33 24 21 22 266Flood 31 24 33 13 239Wildfire 23 24 34 19 156Hurricane 22 27 32 19 201Drought 17 30 36 17 271Extreme high winds 16 25 42 18 436Extreme coldtemperatures

14 17 44 24 298

Extreme rain storm 14 31 34 21 363Extreme heat wave 14 24 40 23 349Extreme snow storm 11 24 40 24 305


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The following chart depicts the percentage of ALL respondents who said people they knew had been harmed by theseextreme weather events or natural disasters a great deal or a moderate amount.

The overall percent of Americans who said people they knew had been harmed a great deal or a moderate amountby one or more types of extreme weather events in the past year.

Percent

Harmed 37Not harmed 73

How likely do you think it is that extreme weather will cause a natural disaster in yourcommunity in the next year?


Very likely 11 12 12 12 9Somewhat likely 40 43 44 43 29Somewhat unlikely 31 34 30 29 32Very unlikely 18 11 14 17 30


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Global Warming and Extreme Weather Events

How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement?Global warming is affecting the weather in the United States.


Strongly agree 26 37 22 22 28Somewhat agree 43 34 49 44 43Somewhat disagree 19 22 17 21 17Strongly disagree 11 7 12 13 12

Some people say that global warming made each of the following events worse. How muchdo you agree or disagree?

Hurricane Irene

Natl Avg Northeast Midwest South WestStrongly agree 16 23 11 16 17Somewhat agree 43 42 50 40 42Somewhat disagree 29 24 27 30 30Strongly disagree 13 11 13 14 11


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The drought in Texas and Oklahoma in 2011

Natl Avg Northeast Midwest South WestStrongly agree 22 24 16 22 27Somewhat agree 47 43 57 45 44

Somewhat disagree 19 22 17 19 19Strongly disagree 12 11 11 14 10

Mississippi River floods in the spring of 2011


Record high summer temperatures in the U.S. in 2011


Record snowfall in the U.S. in 2010 and 2011


The unusually warm winter across the U.S. in Dec. 2011 and Jan. 2012



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Preparedness

How much have you thought about preparing for a natural disaster?

Natl Avg Northeast Midwest South WestA great deal 17 14 12 21 18Some 38 33 37 40 39A little 30 36 37 26 25None 15 17 14 13 18

Do you have a disaster emergency plan that all members of your family know about?


Does everyone in your household know where they should meet if you areforced to evacuateyour home?


Do you have an emergency supply kit in your home?


The 37 percent of respondents who said they did have an emergency supply kit were then asked

Which of the following does your emergency supply kit include?Yes No

A first aid kit 98 2A flashlight and extra batteries 97 3A manual can opener 92 8A 3-day supply of non-perishable, ready-to-eat food for everyone in your household 86 15A cell phone 86 14At least 3 gallons of water for each member of your household 78 22

A battery-powered or hand crank portable radio and extra batteries 71 29A backup power generator 34 66

Have you updated your emergency supply kit in the past 6 months?

Yes 49No 51


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Use of Local Weather Forecasts

How closely do you follow news about the local weather forecast?

Very closely 31Somewhat closely 40A little 23Not at all 6

Over the past 12 months, how many times have you seen a weather forecaster talking about

global warming?

Many (5 or more times) 11A few (3 or 4 times) 20Once or twice 36Never 33


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How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement?I would be interested in learning what my favorite TV weathercaster has to say about globalwarming.

Strongly agree 16

Somewhat agree 42Somewhat disagree 24Strongly disagree 19

Methodology

These results come from a nationally representative survey of 1,008 American adults, aged 18 andolder, fielded March 12 through March 30, 2012. The margin of sampling error for the nationalresults is +/- 3 percent, with 95 percent confidence. The margin of error for the regional results is+/- 5 to 7 percent, depending on the region. The samples were weighted to correspond with USCensus Bureau parameters for the United States. The surveys were designed by Anthony Leiserowitzof Yale University and Edward Maibach and Connie Roser-Renouf of George Mason University andconducted by Knowledge Networks, using a nationally representative online research panel ofAmerican adults. The states included in each region are as follows:

Northeast Midwest South WestConnecticut Illinois Alabama AlaskaMaine Indiana Arkansas ArizonaMassachusetts Iowa Delaware CaliforniaNew Hampshire Kansas Florida ColoradoNew Jersey Michigan Georgia HawaiiNew York Minnesota Kentucky Idaho

Pennsylvania Missouri Louisiana MontanaRhode Island Nebraska Maryland NevadaVermont North Dakota Mississippi New Mexico

Ohio North Carolina OregonSouth Dakota Oklahoma UtahWisconsin South Carolina Washington

Tennessee WyomingTexasVirginiaWashington DCWest Virginia

PercentNortheast 18 186Midwest 22 219South 37 374West 23 230


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Documents

Extreme Weather Climate Preparedness